Prosecutor: Gang member fatally shot friend while waving gun around

An accused gang member who told police he keeps a gun to protect himself from rivals accidentally shot and killed a member of his own gang while waving that weapon around outside a Southwest Side Walgreens over the Fourth of July weekend, Cook County prosecutors said.

Richard Magnan, who has numerous face tattoos, including one that reads, “F— the world” and a White Sox logo, was friends with Joel Bentley — the man he shot in the early morning hours of July 5, Assistant State’s Attorney Alexandra Molesky said.

Bentley was a member of the 2-6 street gang, Molesky said.

Magnan is also a purported member of the same gang.

Both men were at an Independence Day party before they and another friend walked to the Walgreens parking lot, in the 6200 block of South Austin Avenue early Saturday, Molesky said.

Once there, Magnan, of Evergreen Park, went to his truck, grabbed his gun and pointed it to the other two men, Molesky said.

Magnan’s friends told him to put the gun away after he allegedly pulled the slide back and ejected a live round but he refused, Molesky said.

Magnan continued to wave the gun around and held it sideways, Molesky said.

At some point, the gun went off and a bullet struck 30-year-old Bentley in the abdomen, Molesky said.

Bentley, of the 5000 block of South Keating Avenue, died hours later at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Magnan, 35, fled the scene but was arrested Monday in a Willowbrook hotel, according to a police report.

Magnan was identified by witnesses and allegedly admitted shooting his friend.

Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. ordered Magnan held in lieu of $3 million bail Wednesday on a charge of involuntary manslaughter.

Magnan was previously sentenced to eight years in prison for a 2003 murder.

He also has two convictions for possession of a stolen vehicle and a 2004 weapon conviction from Nevada.